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December 5, 2015

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‘Independent’ Froome test data released

MAKING good on a pledge he made in winning the Tour de France, Chris Froome released the results of laboratory tests on his body to counter skeptics in France who have repeatedly expressed doubts that he rides clean.

The lab in London measured how efficiently Froome’s body uses oxygen, and his power and endurance. The results were published late on Thursday on the website of Esquire magazine.

One test of VO2 max, an indication of how effectively the body transports oxygen from the air to muscles during intense exercise, measured Froome at 84.6, more than double what it would be in the general population.

“Off the charts. We’ve never had anything close to that in the lab,” it quoted one of the lab’s sports scientists, Phillip Bell. “Froome’s values are close to what we believe are the upper limits for VO2 peak in humans.”

The lab also found that Froome can produce up to 525 watts of power when he pedals, and can also sustain a very high power output — 419 watts — for 20-40 minutes. Such numbers could help explain why Froome, the 2013 and 2015 Tour winner, not only looks comfortable on the Tour’s steep and long mountain climbs, but can also squeeze out bursts of speed when necessary.

“I’m the only one who can really say 100 percent that I’m clean,” the magazine quoted Froome as saying. “I haven’t broken the rules. I haven’t cheated. I haven’t taken any secret substance that isn’t known yet. I know my results will stand the test of time, that 10, 15 years down the line people won’t say, ‘Ah, so that was his secret.’ There isn’t a secret.”

With skepticism rife in cycling after Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour wins for systematic doping, the tests on Froome are unlikely to assuage die-hard doubters. But in submitting himself for tests and releasing such personal data, the Sky rider is going the extra mile to be more transparent than many other top athletes.




 

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